Bluffton adds rental option for unsold Wharf Street homes

Bluffton officials amended sale agreements for the Wharf Street properties Tuesday to allow the town to rent them if some go unsold by the end of next year.

Senior Planner Danny Wilson said the federal grants providing most of the funding for the $1.2 million project could force the town to rent homes still unsold after Dec. 31 of 2013, though town staff doesn’t see that as a likely scenario.

“Prior to sale, we need to preserve the right to rent in case - for whatever reason - we do not sell the properties,” he said.

The town is in the process of finalizing sales for three of the six homes from a redevelopment project that replaced two blighted properties with affordable housing units expected to bring in between $200,000 to $400,000, all together.

Another nine applicants remain in the pool for the three remaining homes after about 50 withdrew from the program since the spring. Most have provided little explanation for the drop, though the strict criteria established for the largely grant-funded project could be a factor for many, officials have said.

A single person can’t earn more than $39,100, and a family of four can’t have a household income above $55,850. Rules also come with restrictions on previous home ownership and give higher standing to applicants who live and work in Bluffton.

Members of the town’s affordable housing committee have questioned the high applicant dropout rate and home price ranges, which some feared would exceed income qualifications.

Two of the successful applicants are expected to choose from the three-bedroom layouts appraised at $190,000 while the third will choose from one of the two available two-bedroom options.

That leaves a 330-square-foot one-bedroom home priced between $60,000 to $90,000, one more two-bedroom layout and a final three-bedroom layout.